Syria/Lebanon: 87 wounded from Qusair area treated in Lebanon

09-06-2013 Operational Update

Since 7 June, Lebanese Red Cross emergency medical services, with the support of the ICRC, have evacuated 87 Syrians seriously wounded in fighting in Syria's Qusair region. The wounded have been transferred to hospitals in the Bekaa Valley and Tripoli.

"We will do our best to ensure that all wounded people reaching Lebanon receive the medical attention they need," said Robert Mardini, the ICRC's head of operations for the Near and Middle East. "Those who have already arrived may only represent the tip of the iceberg -- we don't have information on how many people have been wounded or killed, or on the number of people who remain in Qusair."

"We are in regular contact with the Syrian authorities with a view to entering areas in and around Qusair where civilians and wounded people have taken refuge. We intend to deliver humanitarian aid, especially medical supplies, in those areas," he added.

"Today the focus of the media is on Qusair, but let’s not forget that there are many other places around the country, such as Rural Damascus and Aleppo, where fighting is taking place and people are suffering," said Mr Mardini. "People are dying from conditions that would not have been fatal had medical attention been provided in time. It is imperative that humanitarian aid – especially medical supplies, food and clean water – reach all those in need."